Basketball News Wire

Boston, MA- Senior guard Carmen Oyola netted a game-high 22 points on 9-12 from the floor to lead the Rutgers University-Camden women’s basketball team over Pine Manor College, 86-49, to take the consolation game of the 2007 UMass Boston Tip-Off Classic hosted by University of Massachusetts Boston today at the Clark Athletic Center on the UMass Boston campus.  The Lady Raptors improve to 1-1 on the season, while the Gators fall to 0-2.

 Sophomore guard Andrea Lavigne made a lay-up off the opening tip, just two seconds into the game, and junior forward Nicole Doras hit a lay-up as well to give Pine Manor a 4-0 lead with 18:51 left in the first half.  The lead would be short-lived, however, as Rutgers-Camden went on a 31-10 run to take a 31-14 lead with 6:55 to go in the opening half, behind 14 points from freshman guard Karima Blackwell.  The Lady Raptors owned a 38-26 lead at the intermission and went on a 22-6 run, fueled by 13 points from Oyola, to open the second half to take a 60-32 lead with 12:08 to play in the stanza.  Rutgers-Camden owned its largest lead at 76-38 with 3:57 showing in the second half.

 The Lady Raptors shot 54.1% (33-61) for the game, while holding the Gators to just 29.8 (17-57) from the floor and forcing them into 30 turnovers.

 Oyola, an All-Tournament selection, also grabbed three rebounds, dished for two assists and made two steals on the day for Rutgers-Camden, while Blackwell finished with 16 points on 6-11 from the field in addition to seven rebounds, a steal and an assist.  Senior guard Amber Parker also contributed with 13 points on 6-9 from the floor in addition to three boards, two steals and two assists and senior guard Imani Hafiz chipped in with eight points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.

 Amanda Dennis, who was named to the All-Tournament team, led Pine Manor with 18 points and pulled down five rebounds, rejected two shots and made a steal.  Freshman guard Enjolee Phillips came off the bench to contribute with eight points, three rebounds, four steals and an assist in 22 minutes of action, while senior guard Laura Cecil passed for a game-high seven assists to go with five points, six rebounds and a steal.

 The Lady Raptors will be in action again on Tuesday, November 20 when they travel to Madison, NJ to take on Drew University at 6:00 p.m., while the Gators host Framingham State College on November 20 at 7:00 p.m.